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Tuesday, November 28, 2017

1.PRESIDENT OF INDIA INAUGURATES INTERNATIONAL GITA MAHOTSAVA-2017
IN HARYANA

i. President Ram Nath Kovind inaugurated the International Gita
Mahotsava-2017 in Kurukshetra, Haryana. Gita Mahotsava-2017 will conclude on
December 3, 2017.

ii. Mauritius is the partner country and Uttar Pradesh is the
partner state for this event. About 20 lakh people participated in Gita
Mahotsav last year, which also included people from 35 countries.

iii. This year, about 25-30 lakh people are expected to
participate in this event till December 3, 2017. President Ram Nath Kovind,
also participated in Gita Yajna and Gita Poojan ceremonies at Brahma Sarovar and
inaugurated an international seminar on Gita at the Kurukshetra University
campus.

i. In a first, a woman has been inducted as a pilot in the Indian
Navy. Shubhangi Swaroop, who hails from Uttar Pradesh, will soon be flying
Maritime Reconnaissance aircraft.

ii. Three other women cadets, Astha Segal from New Delhi, Roopa A
from Puducherry and Sakthi Maya S from Kerala, also created history by becoming
the country’s first women officers at the Naval Armament Inspectorate branch of
the Navy.

2.CENTRE SUGGESTS ODISHA TO ENHANCE PMGSY TARGET TO 10,000 KM

i. The Centre suggested to the Odisha government to enhance its
rural road construction target under the Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana to
10,000 km from 7,000 km during the current fiscal year.

ii. Union Secretary to Rural Development Minister Amarjit Sinha
made the suggestions to Odisha after attending a high level review meeting held
under the chairmanship of Odisha Chief Secretary A P Padhi.

iii. The Odisha government had earlier set a target to construct
7,000 km roads during this fiscal. So far, around 42,058 km of road have been
completed connecting 13,063 habitations under PMGSY. The field level work is
going on for completion of another 14,800 km of road that will connect 3,492
habitations more. These projects would be completed by March, 2019.

iv. PMGSY is being implemented with fund support from both the
Central and state government on 60:40 basis.

3.MHA CONDUCTED MULTI STATE MEGA MOCK TSUNAMI EXERCISE 2017

i. The Indian Tsunami Early Warning Centre based at Indian
National Centre for Ocean Information Services had conducted “Multi-State Mega
Mock Exercise of Tsunami for East Coast of India”.

ii. Participants in the drill included State Disaster Management
Authorities of West Bengal, Odisha, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and Puducherry.
The mock drill was conducted in collaboration with the Ministry of Home Affairs
and the National Disaster Response Force.

i. The Centre has approved setting up of 'Pradhan Mantri Mahila Shakti
Kendras' across 115 most backward districts of the country through a new scheme
for reaching out to rural women and facilitating skill development, employment,
digital literacy, health and nutrition.

ii. The government also approved expanding the Beti Bachao, Beti
Padhao scheme from 161 districts to 640 districts in the country, as well as
150 additional 'one stop centres' for the survivors of sexual violence along
with seven other programmes that are part of the umbrella scheme -- the
National Mission for Empowerment of Women. The financial outlay for these
schemes from 2017 to 2020 will be Rs 3,636.85 cr.

i. Prime minister Narendra Modi has launched Umang mobile
application, an integrated platform for government to citizen services. Umang-
an acronym for "unified mobile app for new age" e-governance -
currently hosts around 162 services from 33 government departments of central
and state governments. The app has been developed by the ministry of
electronics and information technology.

ii. Some of the services relate to Aadhaar, DigiLocker, Pay Gov,
Bharat Bill Payments System, and CBSE. The app provides easy facility for
provisioning the services through mobile without long drawn detailed project
report /bidding process.

2.INTERNATIONAL SEMINAR ON INDIAN SPACE PROGRAMME HELD IN NEW
DELHI

i. International Seminar on Indian Space Programme: ‘Trends and
Opportunities for Industry’ was inaugurated in New Delhi.

ii. The seminar was jointly organised by Indian Space Research
Organisation, Antrix Corporation Limited (the commercial arm of ISRO) and
Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry.

iii. Objective of this seminar was to deliberate on the best practices
in space sector and to develop a coherent framework for enabling the domestic
and global expansion of India’s Space Sector. The seminar also highlighted the
recent achievements and major milestones of Indian Space Sector and provided
information about its future programs and plans.

i. Manipur hosted the first- ever North East Development Summit
2017 in Imphal. NEDS 2017 was jointly organised by Manipur State Government in
collaboration with Union Commerce Ministry and India Foundation.

ii. President Ram Nath Kovind inaugurated the summit. Objective of
this summit was to showcase the economic potential and to attract investments
in food processing, bamboo industry, real estate and other businesses within
the state.

i. The Cabinet has approved the setting up of the 15th Finance
Commission which will assess the tax resources of the nation and suggest a
formula for their devolution among states. Its recommendations will have to be
in place before April 1, 2020, it takes 2 years for Finance Commission to give
its recommendations.

ii. As per Article 280 of the Constitution, the Commission is
required to make recommendations on the distribution of the net proceeds of
taxes between the Centre and the States.

2.INDIA-MYANMAR JOINT ARMY EXERCISE “IMBAX-2017” BEGINS IN
MEGHALAYA

i. IMBAX-2017 First India-Myanmar bilateral military exercise 2017
begun in Umroi in Meghalaya. IMBAX-2017 will continue till November 25, 2017.

ii. This exercise is being held to train Myanmar’s army delegation
for participation in United Nations Peacekeeping Operations. IMBAX-2017 is
being conducted at the recently created Joint Training Node of the Indian Army
at Umroi, which is situated 30km away from Meghalaya capital’s Shillong.

iii. 15 officers from Myanmar Army and 16 officers from the Indian
Army are taking part in IMBAX-2017. As Indian Army contingents have rich
experience of serving in UNPKO, Indian
Army officers taking part in IMBAX-2017 will impart training to Myanmar Army
delegation on the tactics, procedures, expertise and methodology to be adopted
by contingent of member nations while taking part in UNPKO.

i. Maharashtra
Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis launched a new initiative against childhood
obesity in Pune. Under this initiative, schools will be given Body Mass Index dialler,
through which children will be able to know their BMI.

ii. This
initiative has been taken by Rotary Club of Koregaon Park with JT Foundation. With
the help of BMI dialler and a supporting documentary, not only school children,
but their parents and teachers will also be given information about childhood
obesity.

iii. According
to the World Health Organisation, India is projected to be the second-largest
country with childhood obesity by 2025.

iv. Around
6000 children in Pune will benefit from this campaign by gaining information
about BMI. It is to be noted that Pune is among the top five Indian cities
having high prevalence of obesity.

i. On the
2nd Anniversary of Ujwal DISCOM Assurance Yojana, the Government of India
signed four MoUs under the Scheme with the State of Nagaland and with Union
Territories of Andaman & Nicobar Islands, Dadra & Nagar Haveli &
Daman & Diu for operational improvements.

ii. Currently
it costs between Rs. 3000/- to Rs. 4000/- to get a domestic power connection. Under
this new scheme, households in rural areas can pay just Rs. 200 and get a
domestic power connection. The remaining amount can be paid in easy instalments
of Rs. 100 to Rs. 200.

iii. Haryana
State Government has initiated several schemes aimed at reducing losses of
State Power Department. In certain villages, where line losses have been
reduced by 20% are now getting 24-hour power supply. Mr Khattar has stated that
his government would fulfil its promise to provide 24-hour power supply all
over Haryana in the next two years.

i. The 42nd World Congress of the International Committee of
Military Medicine organised by the Armed Forces Medical Services under the
aegis of the Ministry of Defence began in New Delhi.

ii. The five-day event is being organised for the first time in
India, and is the largest medical conference ever organised by the AFMS. The
theme of this 42nd World Congress is “Military Medicine in Transition: Looking
Ahead.”

ii. Sarbananda Sonowal said that, the Namami Barak is organised to
revive humanistic values, to discover resources and possibilities of the land. Also
a new train connecting Silchar Dibrugarh – Trivandrum was flagged off. Sonowal
added that Dibrugarh and Silchar direct air connectivity has also started.

iii. He requested Minister of State for Railways, Rajen Gohain to
start a new train from Saurashtra to Dibrugarh and Silchar. He said that
construction of the mini secretariat at Silchar would start soon and Vivekananda
Cultural and Research Institute is also going to be set up in Silchar.

1.24TH MEETING OF THE ASIA PACIFIC REGIONAL SPACE AGENCY FORUM
HELD IN BENGALURU

i. The 24th Session of the Asia-Pacific Regional Space Agency
Forum was held in Bengaluru. The theme for the 24th Session of the Asia-Pacific
Regional Space Agency Forum was ‘Space Technology for Enhanced Governance and
Development’.

ii. The event was co-organised by India’s Department of Space,
Indian Space Research Organisation and Japan’s Ministry of Education, Culture,
Sports, Science and Technology and Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency.

iii. The General Co-chairs were Mr. A. S. Kiran Kumar, Secretary
of DOS & Chairman of ISRO and Ms. Mami Oyama, Deputy Director General,
Research and Development Bureau, Japan.

i. India and France have agreed to deepen security cooperation,
bilaterally and in the multilateral fora, and strengthen strong commitment to
combating terrorism in all its forms and manifestations.

ii. After holding delegation-level talks with Minister for Europe
and Foreign Affairs of France Jean Yves-Le Drain, External Affairs Minister
Sushma Swaraj stated both countries have vowed to get rid of the menace of
terrorism.

2.CENTRE OKAYS RS 10,000 CR FOR 107 MAHARASHTRA IRRIGATION
PROJECTS

i. The Centre has given an in-principle approval to provide an
assistance of Rs 10,000 cr to fund 107 irrigation projects in drought-hit
Vidarbha and Maratha regions of Maharashtra.

ii. The announcement was made by the Chief Minister of Maharashtra
Devendra Fadnavis.

3.1ST WHO GLOBAL MINISTERIAL CONFERENCE ON ENDING TB HELD IN
RUSSIA

i. The WHO Global Ministerial Conference “Ending TB in the
Sustainable Development Era: A Multisectoral Response” was held in Moscow,
Russia.

ii. It aims to accelerate implementation of the WHO End TB
Strategy - with immediate action. A Ministerial Declaration was signed at the
Conference, containing bold commitments by countries to accelerate action to
end TB and meet the milestones towards the 2030 SDGs.

4.INDIA’S FIRST MEGA COASTAL ECONOMIC ZONE TO COME UP IN
MAHARASHTRA

i. The government has given the go-ahead for setting up India’s
first mega coastal economic zone at the Jawaharlal Nehru Port in Maharashtra as
part of a plan to develop 14 such industrial clusters to spur manufacturing and
generate jobs.

ii. The plan envisages a total investment of Rs 15,000 cr in the
first phase and creation of more than 1.5 lakh jobs.

i. President Ram Nath Kovind launched various schemes and laid the
foundation stones of infrastructure projects in Jharkhand. These schemes and
projects are to be carried out at an expenditure of Rs 3455 cr.

ii.nFirstly, he launched Rs 290-crore ‘108 Ambulance’ service in
the state. This service will have 329 life support system equipped ambulances
which will provide free round the clock service across the state.

ii. The summit will discuss on innovative ideas, technologies and
global best practices to push agricultural transformation in Andhra Pradesh.
More than 50 stalls have been set up to showcase latest agriculture
technologies and products of companies.

iii. Chief Guest for the Valedictory session on 17 November will
be Bill Gates. This summit is organised by the Andhra Pradesh Government in
association with Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, Confederation of Indian
Industry and Dalberg Advisors.

i. According to the 5th biennial Hotelivate State Ranking Survey
for Tourism, Delhi is the top tourist destination of India. This survey was
conducted by hospitality consulting firm, Hotelivate in association with World
Travel & Tourism Council-India Initiative.

ii. States were assessed on eleven parameters, which included
state expenditure on tourism, number of branded hotel rooms, aircraft movement,
road and rail network and other intangible aspects. As per the finding of the
survey, Delhi, Goa, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu and Gujarat are the top five
tourism destination states.

iii. Being a capital city, Delhi scored extremely high on
parameters of aircraft movement and hotel rooms, which contributed to its
overall top rank.

iv. Survey findings revealed that none of the Indian states spent
more than 1% of Gross State Domestic Product on tourism.

4.12TH NORTH EAST BUSINESS SUMMIT INAUGURATED IN NEW DELHI

i. 12th North East Business Summit, a two day event, was
inaugurated in New Delhi. The summit aims to explore the scope for business
opportunities in the North-Eastern region of India. Focus areas are
Infrastructure and Connectivity with Public Private Partnerships, Skill
Development, Financial Inclusion, Services Sector Development- Particularly in
Tourism, Hospitality & Food Processing.

ii. The Summit is being organised by the Indian Chamber of
Commerce. Manipur is the state partner for this event. The conference includes
technical sessions on development of infrastructure and connectivity in North
East: Focus on Regional Air Connectivity, Skill development in NE &
Financing the services sector, Roads & Highways, Development of Food
Processing Industry in NE with focus on Natural Organic and Super Foods from NE
and Promotion of Tourism & Hospitality Sector in NE.

5.NAGALAND BECOMES FIRST NORTH EAST STATE TO LAUNCH POS FOR
ELECTRICITY BILL PAYMENTS

i. Nagaland became the first among the North Eastern states to
launch Point of Sale for electricity bill payment. The PoS facility was
formally launched by State Chief Secretary, Pankaj Kumar, at Kohima Electrical
Sub-division-1 in Kohima.

ii. He said that, the department has been losing around Rs 150 cr
annually due to non-payment of bills by consumers and asked the citizens to pay
sincerely. Through the PoS, a consumer can make cashless payment of the
electricity bills, which is in line with India’s digitisation. Chief Engineer
of Power Department, Khose Sale said that, PoS services will be extended to
other major cities and districts of Nagaland.

ii. ‘Hunar (skill) Haat’ is a platform created by the Minority
Affairs Ministry to offer employment and market opportunities to artisans and
craftsmen from minority communities. At the 4th edition of Hunar Haat works of
artisans belonging to minority communities and Tihar Jail inmates are kept on
display. This will continue till 27 November 2017.

i. India has ranked 14th out of 56 nations and European Union on
Climate Change Performance Index 2018 released by environmental organisation
Germanwatch. This marks an improvement
from its 20th rank in CCPI 2017

ii. China, which is one of the highest GHG emitting country, ranks
41st. Similar to last year’s rankings, top three rankings are still
unoccupied as no country has adhered to
commitments made in 2015 Paris Climate Accord that aims to keep the average
global temperature rise below two degrees Celsius and as close as possible to
1.5 degrees Celsius.

iii. The bottom three countries in the index are Korea (58), Iran
(59) and Saudi Arabia (60).

i. Plenary session of 4th Global Conference on Sustained
Eradication of Child Labour was held in Buenos Aires, Argentina. This
Conference was jointly organised by Government of Argentina and International Labour
Organization.

ii. While delivering the country statement at this conference,
Union Minister of Women and Child Development, Maneka Gandhi stated that Indian
Government is fully committed to continue working to eliminate child labour.

iii. Ms. Gandhi highlighted the specific provisions of amendment
in the Child Labour Act of 1986, provisions of Juvenile Justice (Care and
Protection of Children) Act, 2015, National Food Security Act 2013 and Mahatama
Gandhi National Rural Employment Guaranty Act 2005 which are direct and
indirect steps taken by Indian Government in this direction.

9.RBI GOVERNOR URJIT PATEL APPOINTED TO BIS ADVISORY BOARD

i. RBI Governor Urjit Patel was appointed to the Financial
Stability Institute Advisory Board of the Bank of International Settlement.

ii. Bank of International Settlement is a global financial
organisation owned by major central banks from across the world. The Financial
Stability Institute of the BIS assists financial sector authorities worldwide
in strengthening their financial systems.

iii. The Advisory Board will provide strategic advice to help the
FSI continue to meet its mandate in a way that is responsive to the changing
needs of its key stakeholders around the world. Members of the FSI Advisory
Board would include Urjit Patel, William Dudley, President of the Federal
Reserve Bank of New York, central bank governors in Brazil, South Africa,
Japan, and other top bankers from across the world.